Born in the USSR in 1970, Russian by both nationality and ethnicity, and as such, have my own opinion on everything.
People, just try to think different. Maybe it won't make you happier, but the world will be a much better place to live in, if populated by thinking people.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

No Amnesty for Hypocrisy

In their recent news release, the Amnesty International inform about current situation with Syrian refugees.

Refugees in the region

More than 4 million refugees from Syria (95%) are in just five countries Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt:

Lebanon hosts approximately 1.2 million refugees from Syria which amounts to around one in five people in the country

Jordan hosts about 650,000 refugees from Syria, which amounts to about 10% of the population

Turkey hosts 1.9 million refugees from Syria, more than any other country worldwide

Iraq where 3 million people have been internally displaced in the last 18 months hosts 249,463 refugees from Syria

Egypt hosts 132,375 refugees from Syria

The UN humanitarian appeal for Syrian refugees is just 40% funded.Funding shortages mean that the most vulnerable Syrian refugees in Lebanon receive just $13.50 per month or less than half a dollar a day for food assistance.More than 80% of Syrian refugees in Jordan living below the local poverty line.

Conflict in Syria

Around 220,000 people have been killed and 12.8 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria

More than 50% of Syria’s population is currently displaced

International Resettlement

In total, 104,410 resettlement places have been offered globally since the start of the Syria crisis, which equates to a mere 2.6% of the total population of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey.400,000 people in the five main host countries - or 10% - are in need of resettlement according to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.Amnesty International is calling for at least 10% of Syria’s most vulnerable refugees to be resettled from the main host countries by the end of 2016

Other high income countries including Russia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea have also offered zero resettlement places.

Germany has pledged 35,000 places for Syrian refugees through its humanitarian admission programme and individual sponsorship; about 75% of the EU total.

Germany and Sweden together have received 47% Syrian asylum applications in the EU between April 2011 and July 2015

Excluding Germany and Sweden, the remaining 26 EU countries have pledged around 8,700 resettlement places, or around 0.2% of Syrian refugees in the main host countries.

I quote the full release intentionally, so that there could be no accusations in any play with words and senses.

I have just hughlighted some points that need to be discussed in depth.

1. As far as I know, the Syrian refugees are mostly Muslims (though surely not all of them: as Syria is a multi-confessional country). So why the richest Muslim countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and others do not offer a friendly hand of support to their brethren in Islam? By the way, I am not sure of their successes in observance of the LGBT community rights, which is undoubtedly the problem No. 1 worldwide. Why the White House and the European Parliament keep silence about that?

2. I have nothing against Germany, Sweden and other EU countries solving the problems of Syrian refugees, as the bloody civil war in Syria was born with an active support of the EU, NATO and the USA. I do hope all the EU member countries, both old and young, will help those who lost their homes and relatives. That's the white man's burden you people chose to carry. Playing with fire, one has to be ready to pay for damages.

3. I am a bit proud and happy Russia is found in the list of high income countries together with Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Undoubtedly, that's a great pity for many of the Ukrainian (and Western in general, for the matter) analysts prophesying collaps of Russia on a daily basis. However, Russia has plenty of her own troubles with refugees, including about 1 million of refugees from the Eastern parts of Ukraine. Needless to say, that this particular civil war was also burned with an active support of the USA, EU and NATO. However, Russian and (at least Eastern) Ukrainians are more than just our brothers, and Russia duly helps our former Soviet compatriots.

4. I wonder why the Amnesty Int'l keeps the USA, Canada and Australia off the list of "high income countries". This seems to be unfair, especially judging by the role the USA has been playing in all the cryses of the last years. How many millions of the refugees from Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and other "places of interest" the USA and their non-European ass-kissers are ready to welcome?